The Truth and its Shadow: Rise of Superficial Intelligence

To understand something “on the level of words” is fairly common phrase used to denote someone’s superficiality. However, there’s more depth to superficiality than initially meets the eye. In this podcast we’ll point out some of the depths of what we previously dubbed, in Plato’s phrase, skiagraphiaor “shadow-drawing”; a mental equivalent of drawing the shadow of the image on plane surface to add to it the illusion of depth. We’ll point out, in our common “metaphysician next door” manner, how this attitude drives people to cut themselves off, not only from the realities of the world, but, more perniciously, of their very selves too.

So, it is a bit obsolete to wail and grumble about the dangers of supposed rise of the robotic Artificial Intelligence, when we are already dealing with the real and present danger of supremacy of the Superficial Intelligence

(If for some reason the Mixcloud presents you with problems, the podcasts are available on Kali Tribune’s Youtube channel. Podcasts can be downloaded via this link )

6 Responses

You have in mind certain people who, having undergone conversion to some religion, take upon the most controversial and ultra-radical positions associated with it. For example it isn’t the boring 5 times a day pray and 613 commandments to obey of well…regular Islam that draws them in, no it has to be the beheading, bomb and child sex slaving caricature of it created by certain militant groups with questionable (let’s be frank here, “intelligence” agency) backing who are ceaselessly trumpeted in the media. So in other words extremism becomes both a cause and end of one’s spiritual journey. An oddly circular premise, seeing as how almost all religions promise to provide an escape to the cyclicity of being.

I can’t help but laugh whenever I read a variant of “the only difference between us and Jews is that we’re white” on places such as counter currents. I wonder how long it would take for some of these alt-righters to join a fanatical ultra-Zionist Haredic sect? After all the recipe is all there – magian occultism, tribal mentality, extreme racism, subjugation of women and sicarian militancy.

That said though I think you should express your opinion more clearly regarding the possibility of what would entail a genuine conversion. In so far as an initiation is the undertaken first step, it’s too early to judge a person before he or she comes around something wrong – a recently converted person, or a foreigner, even with a strong temper and perchance for ultra-conservatism could reap the spiritual benefits so to speak, if he sticks with it until the end. Perhaps the sheer intellectual difficulty, or what you could say is the necessary drudgery of spiritual practice would humble these humours and passions in one’s soul enough to become embedded into the true liturgical state of the soul. That said though a person who joins an ultra-conservative parish might become influenced by already core members with ultra-conservative views, thus becoming reinforced rather than liberated from his existential hubris. In this sense however, and this is a crucial point I wish to confer, the native parishioners are equally guilty for not seeing through the newcomer’s attempt to prove himself sharing in their “pure” values, and failing to exercise a tempering influence in response.

One remark I find interesting: the fact that they always present the doctrines they adhere to as being in opposition to others. Not that there are no opposing positions and mutually exclusive doctrines, but for them, this seems to be one of the main points- cannon fodder for debates. They also have a way of putting these oppositions as if announcing the coming Armagheddon: “There are these two sides- which will you pick?”

Another point which I noticed is this: such people behave in no way different from the committed SJW or absurd politically correct liberal- if someone is in disagreement with them on one single point, regardless of agreement in other matters, than that someone is met with irony, sarcasm and, perhaps, even hostility. If you contradict them in any way, you are invited to a post-modern type of dual “let’s have a debate”. For them we are engaged in “culture wars” and, it seems to me, they consider themselves to be some of the elite shock troops leading their side into battle.

In this regard, I even venture to make the following remark: they regard the people they debate with or those they analyze and critic not as persons, but as talking heads from which different ideas emanate. Criticisms or praise are offered only on the level of the ideas they communicate or on the political/religious side they adhere to. They don’t care about their personalities, their lives, the work they do outside offline activity. All it matters is the ideas, the words they speak.

One observation regarding what you said about some converting especially to “Russian Orthodoxy” : the question is, what Orthodoxy is that? Is it that of the men and women who were willing to put their lives on the line to save an icon or a church, during the dark night of communism and who thus kept the flame burning?
I don’t think so- they are more enamored with the image current day Moscow promotes.
In fact, I hardly ever see anything regarding worship or the existential living of the faith- only innumerable articles and debates on the most lofty metaphysical concepts imaginable. For example, you hear a lot of talk about the uncreated Energies of God, yet not one word about recent examples of simple, uneducated people (monks) who actually experienced these realities, not just talked about them.

Very good questions raised there. I tend to think the problem centres on our pride: the old promise ‘ye shall be as gods’. Someone recently joked that a smartphone is the equivalent of the fruit offered to Adam and Eve. The illusion of total knowledge.